NIU basketball signs Norway national player

Head men's basketball coach Ricardo Patton bolstered the size and depth of his backcourt Wednesday after adding Norwegian native Aksel Bolin to the 2010-11 recruiting class.

Bolin, a 6-foot-7, 200-pound shooting guard, will have four years of eligibility at Northern Illinois.

"Aksel is a big kid with good perimeter skills, and he's going to be a great addition to our backcourt," said Patton. "He can shoot the basketball long range and stretch a defense, but what impresses me the most is his knowledge of the game.

"For guys that grow up playing a European style, they develop a good understanding of how to move without the basketball. Aksel is a great cutter, and is a very skilled player"

The 19-year old Bolin graduated from Asker High School (Asker, Norway) in June 2009. He was a member of Norway's All-Star Team during the European National Championships in each of the last four years (2007-10), and recently completed a stint playing in Poland with the Norwegian National Team.

In 2009, during the European Championships, Bolin averaged 9.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game, while shooting 77.8 percent from the free throw line.